By Ruth Savage

LAST Friday, trainee doctor and former Ripon Grammar School pupil Zoe Langham was working in A&E. Two days later, she won bronze for Team GB in the UCI Cycling E-sports World Championships – in between preparing for her final medical exams, which are just over a week away.

Langham, who left RGS in 2017, confesses she cried when her father took her on a 70-mile bike ride as a teenager - but she stuck with it, juggling working in the NHS throughout the pandemic with her punishing training schedule to compete on a world stage.

The 23-year-old from Thornborough, outside Ripon, is studying medicine at the University of Nottingham, having taken history, chemistry and biology at 'A' Level at RGS.

The day after the race, as her tremendous achievement was still sinking in, Langham said: "It's unbelievable to come up against some of the best and still compete with them.

"Just to be on that start line was a huge achievement and I couldn't be prouder. I have a lot of people to thank for getting me there and the amount of support I had yesterday evening was phenomenal and heartwarming.

"It's not every day you get to don the Team GB jersey and I hope I did everyone proud."